Ionikos Nikaias B.C. (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Iωνικός Νίκαιας K.A.E.) is a Greek professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

club that is located in Nikaia, a suburban town within the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

, agglomeration, which in turn is also a part of the

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

agglomeration. The club was founded in 1965. It is a part of the A.O. Ionikos Nikaias (Α.Ο. Ιωνικός Νίκαιας)

multi-sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

. The team's colors are white and blue. The team plays in the

Greek B basket league The Greek B Basket League, or Greek B Basketball League (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνική Β Μπασκετ Λιγκ), is a national basketball league in Greece. It is the Greek basketball league system, 3rd-tier level of the basketball leag ...

Logos

Ionikos N.F. B.C. Logo.gif , ( A.O. Ionikos Nikaias' official 1965 club logo.) Ionikos Nikaias BC Logo.png , (Ionikos Nikaias B.C.'s official logo –2018.) Ionikos BC.jpg , (Ionikos Nikaias B.C.'s official logo 2018–2020.)

History

Early years

Ionikos Nikaias' men's basketball club was founded in 1965, and it played its first game in 1966, during the 1966–67 season. Over the years, the club has featured Greek players such as:

Panagiotis Giannakis Panagiotis "Notis" Giannakis (, ; born January 1, 1959), alternatively spelled Panayiotis Yiannakis or Yannakis, is a former Greek professional basketball player and coach. He is considered to be one of the greatest sportspeople of Greece. He st ...

, Fotis Katsikaris,

Nikos Oikonomou Nikolaos "Nikos" Oikonomou (alternate spellings: Ikonomou, Ekonomou) (Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Οικονόμου; born February 19, 1973) is a former Greek professional basketball player, and a current professional basketball coach. ...

, Vangelis Margaritis,

Vassilis Kavvadas Vassilis Kavvadas (alternate spellings: Vasilis, Vasileios) (Greek: Βασίλης Καββαδάς; born December 28, 1991) is a Greek professional basketball player for Iraklis of the Greek Basketball League. He is 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) tall an ...

, and Marios Batis. Ionikos Nikaias played in the Greek 2nd Division for the first time, in the 1972–73 season. The club won the Greek 2nd Division first group in the 1974–75 season, and was thus promoted to the top-tier level Greek League, for the first time, for the 1975–76 season. The club made 12 consecutive season appearances in the top-tier level

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

, during the 1970s and 1980s period, from the 1975–76 season, to the 1986–87 season. The club also competed in the 3rd-tier level European-wide competition, the

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...

, in both the 1979–80 and 1984–85 seasons. On January 24, 1981, Ionikos Nikaias, led by a then 22-year-old Giannakis, played against

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki (), is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club founded on 25 March 1914 in Thessaloniki. Nicknamed ''God of War'', Aris was one of the strongest Greek clubs during t ...

, which was led at the time by

Nikos Galis Nikolaos Georgalis (; born July 23, 1957), commonly known as either Nikos Galis (), or Nick Galis, is a Greek-American former professional basketball player. Galis, who during his playing days was nicknamed, "Nick The Greek", "The Gangster", and ...

. Aris won in a tight game, by a score of 114–113. The game is memorable in the history of Greek pro club basketball, because in the game, Giannakis scored 73 points, and Galis scored 62 points, achieving the 2nd and 4th most points scored in a single game of the Greek League basketball championship. On August 3, 1984, Ionikos Nikaias transferred its club star Panagiotis Giannakis, to the Greek club

. Aris paid Ionikos Nikaias a transfer fee for his player rights, in the amount of 42 million Greek Drachmas, which was considered a huge amount of money for a transfer at that time. In order to complete the transfer, Giannakis also personally received a

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

car, a

sporting goods store A sporting goods retailer or sporting goods store is a retail business selling sporting and recreational goods, including sportswear, sporting equipment and related general merchandise. History Decathlon, the world's largest sporting good re ...

, and 8 million drachmas from Aris.

Recent years

Ionikos Nikaias won the Greek 3rd Division south conference in the 2017–18 season, and thus earned a league

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the Greek 2nd Division, for the 2018–19 season. That marked the first time the club had played in the Greek 2nd Division, since the 2003–04 season. In the 2018–19 season, Ionikos won the Greek 2nd Division (A2) championship, and was promoted up to the first tier level

, for the 2019–20 season. That marked the first time the club had played in Greece's first division, since the 1986–87 season.

Ionikos Nikaias B.C. in international competitions

Arenas

Ionikos' long-time home arena (1970–2018, 2020–present) is the Nikaias Platonas Indoor Hall (

: Κλειστό Γυμναστήριο Πλάτων Νικαίας), which is an indoor arena that is located in Nikaia,

, and has a seating capacity of 1,200 people. Platonas Gymnasium was renovated in 2020. For the Greek Basket League 2019–20 season, while the arena was being renovated, Ionikos moved into the

Sofia Befon Indoor Hall Sofia Befon Palaio Faliro Indoor Hall (alternate spelling: Sophia Mpefon) (Greek: Κλειστό Γυμναστήριο Σοφία Μπεφόν), is an indoor sporting arena that is located in Palaio Faliro, a suburban town in the Athens agglom ...

, which is located in

Palaio Faliro Palaio Faliro (, ; Katharevousa: Palaion Faliron, Παλαιόν Φάληρον, meaning "Old Phalerum") is a town on the Saronic Gulf coast and a municipality in the southern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. At the 2021 census it had ...

, Piraeus, Athens, and has a seating capacity of 1,204 people.

Honors and titles

Domestic competitions

* Greek 2nd Division (B) / Greek 2nd Division (A2) Champion: (2) (1974–75 B), (2018–19 A2) * Greek 3rd Division Champion: (1) (2017–18) *

Greek C Basket League The Greek C Basket League, or Greek C Basketball League (), is a national basketball league in Greece. It is the 4th-tier level of the basketball league system in Greece, and was founded in 1985. It is also known as National League 2. It is organ ...

Group 3 Champion: (1) (2024-25)

European competitions

*Participant in

( 3rd-tier): (2) ( 1979–80, 1984–85)

Roster

Notable players

Greece: * Kostas Alexandridis * Nikos Arsenopoulos * Giannis Athinaiou * Marios Batis * Dimitris Bogdanos * Vassilis Charalampopoulos * Nikos Chougkaz *

Ioannis Dimakos Ioannis "Giannis" Dimakos (Greek: Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Δημάκος; born September 14, 1990) is a Greek professional basketball player. He is a 6 ft 4 in (1.94 m) tall shooting guard. Professional career After spending the 20 ...

* Costis Gontikas * Georgios Kalafatakis * Andreas Kanonidis *

Vangelis Karampoulas Evangelos "Vangelis" Karampoulas (alternate spellings: Vaggelis, Karaboulas) (Greek: Ευάγγελος "Βαγγέλης" Καράμπουλας; born November 18, 1981) is a Greek professional basketball player. He is a tall shooting guard–s ...

* Fotis Katsikaris * Sotiris Katoufas *

* Iosif Koloveros * Dimitris Kompodietas *

Nikos Liakopoulos Nikolaos "Nikos" Liakopoulos (; born March 16, 1983, in Greece) is a Greek professional basketball player for KAO Korinthou of the Greek 3rd division. He is a tall point guard-shooting guard. Professional career Liakopoulos has played at the p ...

* Dimitris Lolas *

Vangelis Mantzaris Evangelos "Vangelis" Mantzaris (Greek language, Greek: Ευάγγελος "Βαγγέλης" Μάντζαρης; born April 16, 1990) is a Greek professional basketball player for Mykonos B.C., Mykonos of the Greek A2 Basket League, Greek A2 Elit ...

* Vangelis Margaritis *

Loukas Mavrokefalidis Loukas Mavrokefalidis (alternate spelling: Mavrokefalides) (Greek: Λουκάς Μαυροκεφαλίδης; born 25 July 1984) is a Greek professional basketball player who last played for Ionikos Nikaias of the Greek Basket League. He has also ...

Iakovos Milentigievits Iakovos Milentigievits Alifieris (alternate spelling: Milentijević) (Greek: Ιάκωβος Μιλεντίγιεβιτς Αλιφιέρης; born January 11, 1997) is a Serbian–Greek professional basketball player who last played for Panionios ...

* Andreas Papadopoulos * Michael Paragyios * Christos Petrodimopoulos * Andreas Petropoulos * Ioannis Sachpatzidis * Vangelis Sakellariou *

Sofoklis Schortsanitis Sofoklis Schortsanitis ( Greek: Σοφοκλής Σχορτσανίτης; born 22 June 1985) is a Cameroonian-Greek former professional basketball player and Olympian. An All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2011, Schortsanitis won the Eu ...

* Vassilis Toliopoulos *

Fotis Vasilopoulos Fotios Vasilopoulos (alternative spellings: Fotis, Vassilopoulos) (; born 1986) is a Greek professional basketball player who plays for Ethnikos Piraeus B.C. of the Greek B Basket League. He is tall, and he plays at the point guard position. P ...

Europe: */

Angelo Tsagarakis Angelo Constantin Tsagarakis (Greek: Άγγελος Τσαγκαράκης; born June 3, 1984) is a retired French-Greek professional basketball player who played both point guard and shooting guard. Tsagarakis played college basketball at Oregon ...

*/ Diego Kapelan * Roeland Schaftenaar * Muhaymin Mustafa United States: */

Steve Burtt Jr. Steven Dwayne Burtt Jr. (; born March 7, 1984) is an American-born naturalized Ukrainian professional basketball player. Born in the United States, he received Ukrainian citizenship in 2011 and played for the Ukraine national basketball team, Uk ...

* Jordan Callahan *

Toarlyn Fitzpatrick Toarlyn Lavon Fitzpatrick (born September 4, 1989), nicknamed Fitz, is an American professional basketball player for Rapid București of the Liga Națională. High school career Fitzpatrick played high school basketball at C. Leon King High Sc ...

* Eugene German * Daniel Hamilton * Jeremy Hollowell * Jamal Jones * DaVonté Lacy *

Lucky Jones Lucious "Lucky" Jones (born April 22, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for BC Ternopil of the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague. He played college basketball for Robert Morris, from 2011 until 2015. Jones entered the 2015 NBA d ...

* Eugene Lawrence * Josh Owens * Terell Parks * Sayeed Pridgett *

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...

* B. J. Stith * Nick Zeisloft

Head coaches

Season by season

References

External links

*
Ionikos Nikaias B.C. Twitter

Ionikos Nikaias B.C. Facebook

Ionikos Nikaias B.C. YouTube

Eurobasket.com Team Profile
{{Greek Basket League Ionikos Nikaias Basketball teams established in 1965 Basketball teams in Greece Nikaia-Agios Ioannis Renti